Manik Banerjee Born in August 1952. He started learning music at a very young age in the tradition of the Shahjahanpur Gharana from his father the late Durgadas Banerjee, who was the department head for sarod and sitar at Gandhi Sangeet Vidyalaya in Kanpur. Manik-ji started his training on sarod, sitar and vocal music, but soon started focusing on the sarod primarily.Shri Manik Banerjee plays Hindustani classical music on the sarod in the style of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. At present, he teaches sarod at Banasthali University, located about 70km outside of Jaipur, India, having moved there from Lucknow, where he had been settled for many years as a teacher and performer. Manik Banerjee has presented many live concerts, as well as performed on All India Radio and Doordarshan.Manik Banerjee plays a professional-grade Hemen sarod custom-made for him by Hemen Sen in 1980.